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Immigration vote stirs emotions in Neb. town
Law Center |
2010/06/25 01:18
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While busy running a general store that caters to the growing number of Latinos in this Nebraska meatpacking town, Alfredo Velez had new concerns Tuesday after his neighbors voted for an ordinance to crack down on illegal immigrants. To Velez, the vote a day earlier in Fremont to ban hiring or renting property to illegal immigrants sent a clear message: "We're not welcome here," said Velez, a native of Mexico who became a U.S. citizen in 1985. As a business owner, though, he worried about his store, Guerrero, which sells food and other products from Mexico and Central America. "How much more in taxes am I going to have to pay for this thing to go to court?" wondered Velez, 56. "We're all going to have to pay for it, no matter what color our skin is." With roughly 57 percent of voters supporting the ordinance, Fremont joins Arizona and a few other cities in the national debate over immigration regulations. The community about 35 miles northwest of Omaha has seen its Hispanic population surge in the past two decades, largely due to the jobs available at the nearby Fremont Beef and Hormel plants. Supporters argued the measure was necessary to make up for what they see as lax federal law enforcement. Trevor McClurg said the measure is fair because it's aimed at people who aren't legally in the U.S.
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Calif man accused of extortion through hacking
Criminal Law |
2010/06/24 08:58
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Federal agents have arrested a man accused of hacking into computers to obtain personal data to extort sexually explicit videos from women and teenage girls in exchange for keeping their information private. The Los Angeles U.S. attorney's office says 31-year-old Luis Mijangos was arrested Tuesday in Santa Ana. FBI experts say he infected more than 100 computers used by about 230 people, including at least 44 juveniles. The alleged scheme involved using peer-to-peer networks to infect computers, induce victims to download malware disguised as songs, and control those computers to spread malware through contact lists. Mijangos allegedly searched computers for sexual or intimate images to blackmail victims into making videos for him. Prosecutors say he also was able to control some webcams to capture intimate scenes. |
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Ga. death row inmate in rare innocence hearing
Court Watch |
2010/06/24 08:57
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A federal judge heard new testimony Wednesday in the case of a Georgia death row inmate given a rare chance by the U.S. Supreme Court to prove his innocence nearly 20 years after a jury convicted him of killing a police officer. Attorneys for Troy Anthony Davis say witnesses who identified him as the killer of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail during Davis' 1991 trial were pressured by police into making false statements. New witnesses have since come forward to say another man confessed to the slaying after Davis was convicted. In U.S. District Court on Wednesday, Davis' lawyers rested their case after calling nine witnesses to support that claim. The hearing will continue Thursday with prosecutors presenting rebuttal evidence. Judge William T. Moore said he's highly skeptical of testimony that another man has admitted to shooting MacPhail, because Davis' attorneys did not subpoena the man they say is the real killer. |
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High court sides with ex-Enron CEO Skilling
Breaking Legal News |
2010/06/24 08:56
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The Supreme Court has sided with former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling in limiting the use of a federal fraud law that has been a favorite of white-collar crime prosecutors. The court said Thursday that the "honest services" law could not be used in convicting Skilling for his role in the collapse of Enron. But Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in her majority opinion that the ruling does not necessarily require Skilling's conviction to be overturned. During arguments in December and March, several justices seemed inclined to limit prosecutors' use of this law, which critics have said is vague and has been used to make a crime out of mistakes and minor transgressions in the business and political world. The court, at the same time, rejected Skilling's claim that he did not get a fair trial in Houston because of harshly critical publicity that surrounded the case in Enron's hometown. The court in this ruling also sided with former newspaper magnate Conrad Black, setting aside a federal appeals court decision that had upheld Black's honest services fraud conviction. But as in Skilling's case, the justices left the ultimate resolution of the case to the appeals court. The justices also threw out an appeals court ruling against former Alaska legislator Bruce Weyhrauch, who is facing charges under the honest services law. Thursday's ruling could affect the ongoing prosecution of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the convictions of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and ex-HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy. |
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Legal deal for sick 9/11 workers back in NYC court
Legal Business |
2010/06/23 09:58
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Lawyers for thousands of Sept. 11 responders are back in a New York City court trying to rally support for a deal that would end a seven-year legal fight over the toxic fallout caused by the collapse of the World Trade Center. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein earlier this month gave his preliminary approval to a deal that would resolve lawsuits filed by nearly 10,000 police officers, firefighters and construction workers suing the city over their exposure to toxic ash. He was scheduled to hear more testimony on the settlement Wednesday. Opponents of the deal may be given a chance to speak against it, although the judge has indicated he favors it. The settlement would pay between $625 million and $712.5 million, depending on how many people take it.
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Utah Supreme Court: Online petition signatures OK
Law Center |
2010/06/23 09:56
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The Utah Supreme Court says state election officials must accept online petition signatures that are turned in to get individuals on the ballot.
The justices announced the unanimous decision Tuesday as voters went to the polls for primary elections. The issue was raised by an independent candidate for governor. Farley Anderson's paperwork included more than 150 e-signatures and was rejected by the lieutenant governor's office. Utah law acknowledges that electronic signatures are valid substitutes for handwritten ones, but the state attorney general's office argued that e-signatures could not be counted because election law only contemplates a paper-based system. Farley's attorney argued that the state denied Farley his constitutional right to ballot access.
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Fellow law clerks endorse Kagan for court
Political and Legal |
2010/06/23 09:56
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A broad group of former law clerks who worked with Elena Kagan at the Supreme Court some 20 years ago are calling her exceptionally well-qualified to be a justice. Twenty-nine people who were fellow clerks from 1987 to 1988, when Kagan worked for former Justice Thurgood Marshall, are writing to the Senate Judiciary Committee to endorse her. They span the ideological spectrum, including former clerks to Justice Antonin Scalia, the court's conservative icon, and to one of its most liberal stalwarts, former Justice William Brennan. Vice presidential chief of staff Ron Klain is one of the signers, as are conservative lawyers Miguel Estrada and Peter Keisler, two of former President George W. Bush's failed judicial nominees. |
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